Bacon Everywhere on Everything

Well, as if my great desire to eat bacon wasn’t bad enough, my dear sister just sent me a new cookbook (one of those mini pamphlets at the grocery store counter) simply entitled BACON. It is by Taste of Home magazine and really is a nice compilation of recipe cards all starring bacon.

We have bacon for breakfast, appetizers, lunch/dinner, side dishes and even DESSERT. The dessert recipes looked a little strange like Bacon Baklava (the Macedonians and Greeks are flipping out right now) and Chocolate Covered Bacon which really did not look too appealing even for chocolate girls.

Well, of course I tried a few and they were pretty good so I had to share.

First, I made an appetizer. I changed the recipe a bit as it was too cheesy, so here is my version:

Bacon Rounds

1c. mayonnaise
1 tbs. grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. paprika
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. garlic powder (they also included celery seed which added nothing to the flavor)
1c. shredded cheddar cheese (they used 2 cups but it was too gooey for me)
4 green onions thinly sliced
8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 baguette, sliced into 48 rounds.

The original recipe also added chopped peanuts but again, not so great.

In a large bowl combine first 6 ingredients. Mix well and add cheese, bacon and onions. Lightly brush olive oil on the bottoms of the bread. Oil side down, place on cookie sheet and top with spread. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Serve warm. I have made these twice and the recipe does well if you cut it in half since it does make a lot. Enjoy!

Bacon Chicken Roll Ups

After the appetizer try, the next day I went after an entrée and this one was good. Seriously, this one begins with 12 bacon strips, how can you go wrong?

12 bacon strips (partially cook in frying pan but do not let get crisp or there will be no rolling)
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (see, there is one thing healthy about this recipe) 8 oz. softened cream cheese mixed with ½ tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Flatten chicken to 1/8 inch thickness. Spread cream cheese down the center (I used about 2 tbs. for each breast) and roll up from long side, tucking in ends. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap two bacon strips around each breast and secure with toothpicks.

Place in greased 13x9 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until cooked through. These are pretty and good and I served them with glazed carrots!

The original recipe says to put sliced onions on top of the cream cheese, but who wants an onion stuck in the middle of a delicious chicken recipe? I also added the garlic powder to flavor up the cream cheese a bit.

My next try will be Bacon-Pecan Stuffed Mushrooms!